When a tooth fails to emerge through the gums and it is still in the bone, it is considered to be an “impacted tooth”. Like with “wisdom teeth”, the second most common tooth to become impacted is the canine.
The canine tooth is a critical tooth in the dental arch and plays an important role in your “bite”. The canine teeth are very strong biting teeth that have the longest roots of any human teeth. Normally, the maxillary canine teeth are the last of the “front” teeth to erupt in the mouth. They usually come into place around age 13. If a canine tooth gets impacted without any space available between the adjacent teeth to erupt, most likely it will not be able erupt spontaneously.
It is important to treat an impacted tooth in order to prevent the improper eruption of nearby teeth, cyst formation, possible infection or other negative changes in the jaw.
With the use of radiographs, we will be able to determine the position of the tooth in the bone. In most cases, if the space for the impacted tooth is limited, orthodontic treatment should be performed prior to the exposure. In this case, the orthodontist and the periodontist will work together to determine when would be the right time, during the orthodontic treatment, to expose the impacted tooth and gradually to bring it out to the mouth with the help of an orthodontic bracket and chain.
Surgical exposure (by your periodontist) and alignment of impacted teeth (by your orthodontist) can prevent further damage to the rest of the teeth!